PARTNER NEWS: NXP has joined Emcredit, a subsidiary of the Dubai Department of Economic Development (DED), and payments solutions provider Cardtek to launch Empay, a common mobile wallet platform that will enable citizens across the United Arab Emirates to make retail payments, initiate money transfers and pay for government utilities using their NFC smartphone or wearable device... More
Author archive:
Banco Bradesco customers get mobile-only banking
Customers of Brazil’s Banco Bradesco can now open new accounts, send money, split payments with friends, keep track of their spending and manage their finances directly on their mobile phones using a new digital platform that the bank has launched with the aim of introducing a “more intuitive and transparent experience to younger, hyper-connected customers”... More
Oxford Bus Company and Thames Travel passengers can now ‘wave and pay’
Oxford Bus Company and Thames Travel passengers can now ‘wave and pay’ — Oxford Times — “This would do more than ‘just replace the existing cash ticket’, managing director Phil Southall said… ‘We’re really proud to be able to offer the ability for customers to pay for their tickets using Visa, Mastercard, Apple Pay and Android Pay on all of our services from today. We have ambitious plans over the coming months.'”
Visa expands global network of providers to drive acceleration into IoT payments
Visa expands global network of providers to drive acceleration into IoT payments — Visa — “Visa announced it has signed 13 new partners to participate in its token service provider (TSP) program… The newest Visa partners share a desire to advance digital and device-based payments, and represent all major regions of the globe.”
Bango enables new payment option for Amazon customers in Japan
Bango enables new payment option for Amazon customers in Japan — Bango — “Amazon customers with a KDDI (au) or NTT Docomo mobile phone account can now pay for physical goods from Amazon.co.jp, by charging the cost to their mobile phone bill… A KDDI or NTT Docomo subscriber simply adds carrier billing as a payment option in their Amazon.co.jp account and then purchases can be made from any device.”
US pharmacy deploys NFC shelf labels for greater product insight
Customers visiting US pharmacy and wellness center Chambers’ Apothecary in Chambersburg can now tap their NFC devices against NFC tags affixed to shelves throughout the store to interact with products and access a “wide variety of information” including user reviews, customer surveys and videos directly on their mobile phone... More
Feds look to experimental light-field cameras to ID drivers at the border
Feds look to experimental light-field cameras to ID drivers at the border — The Verge — “Developed at Oak Ridge National Laboratory at the request of US Customs and Border Patrol… The system draws on light-field sensor arrays to mitigate the glass barrier, allowing cameras to focus past the reflections on the windshield to the faces of the drivers and passengers.”
Samsung Pay adds Bixby voice-controlled banking in South Korea
Samsung Pay users across South Korea can now use the Bixby artificial intelligence feature in Samsung Galaxy S8 and S8 Plus handsets to conduct transactions with their voice, including completing peer-to-peer (P2P) transfers and finding out their account balance... More
The iPhone’s camera app can now read QR codes
The iPhone’s camera app can now read QR codes — Techcrunch — “According to some reports on Twitter, QR codes in the U.S. are about to get a second chance, because the first iOS 11 beta has the ability to read QR codes via the native camera app. That means any iPhone users will be able to open their camera, point it at a QR code, and receive a prompt to follow a URL.”
Apple Pay to add P2P payments to iMessage through iOS 11
Apple Pay users across the US will soon be able to make peer-to-peer (P2P) money transfers to friends and family using a new feature set to be integrated into Apple’s iMessage platform through the latest iOS 11 operating system... More
Egypt: National Council for payments issues five important decisions
Egypt: National Council for payments issues five important decisions — MobileMoneyAfrica — “The National Council for Payments issued a number of important decisions, with the aim of transforming Egypt from a society that relies on cash to a cashless one.”
Apple Watch to enhance fitness monitoring using NFC tag reading
Apple Watch users will soon be able to tap their device on NFC-enabled gym equipment to sync workout details such as calories burned, speed and distance with the machine for more accurate tracking... More
Chinese mobile payment apps launch in Vancouver, Toronto
Chinese mobile payment apps launch in Vancouver, Toronto — The Globe and Mail — “OTT Financial Inc is working with Chinese Internet giants Tencent and Alibaba to introduce their mobile-payment infrastructure in Canada. The two apps, WeChat Pay and Alipay, are linked with users’ credit cards and allows them to make payments in renminbi, which is then converted to Canadian dollars before it’s transferred to merchants.”
Rambus to enable Interac debit card support for Android Pay in Canada
PARTNER NEWS: Rambus is working with Google and Canada’s Interac Association to enable support for Interac debit cards on Android Pay following its launch in the country earlier this month... More
Xiaomi and Apple tie for the top position as the wearables market swells 17.9% during the first quarter, according to IDC
Xiaomi and Apple tie for the top position as the wearables market swells 17.9% during the first quarter, according to IDC — International Data Corporation — “The worldwide wearables market maintained its upward trajectory during the first quarter of 2017 (1Q17) with Xiaomi and Apple leading all companies and multiple products experiencing double- and triple-digit growth.”
More than half of global card-present payments used EMV standard in 2016
More than half of all card-present transactions conducted globally (52.4%) between January and December 2016 used the EMV chip card standard, up from 35.8% for the same period in 2015, standards body EMVCo has revealed... More
New CSA report offers observations, recommendations on connected vehicle security
New CSA report offers observations, recommendations on connected vehicle security — Cloud Security Alliance — “The paper will provide a ‘big picture’ view of the various aspects of vehicles and infrastructure components to better understand their interrelationships, dependencies and threats to the traffic ecosystem.”
LG Pay goes live in Korea with Wireless Magnetic Communication technology
LG has announced the launch of its LG Pay mobile payments service in Korea, allowing consumers with the LG G6 smartphone to make mobile payments using the service’s Wireless Magnetic Communication (WMC) technology... More
Using your gait to power and secure devices
Using your gait to power and secure devices — CSIRO — “Researchers from CSIRO’s Data61 have developed new technology which uses the way a person walks, their gait, to power wearable devices. The technology also has the potential to be used as a new authentication method, which could replace passwords, PINs or fingerprints.”
MTS adds NFC mobile payments, offers and loyalty to Money Wallet
Customers of Russian mobile network operator MTS can now make NFC-based mobile payments and access loyalty points and exclusive offers using an updated version of the carrier’s MTS Money Wallet, which made its debut in February 2017... More